Travel and expense management technology firm KDS will continue its strategy of investing in its relationships with travel management companies (TMCs) to fuel expansion, under the leadership of new CEO Dean Forbes.
In an exclusive interview with ABTN, Forbes said: “I don't think we could grow anywhere near the amount we intend to without TMCs.”
In the last three months KDS has signed up six new TMCs under its partners programme, which sees the company investing its own cash to improve the TMCs' technology offering, a strategy launched earlier this year at a KDS conference in Paris.
“The percentage of our business done with TMCs is growing,” said Forbes. “It took a while at first but now it's really gaining momentum.
“Our relationship with TMCs is and remains critical.”
Other plans Forbes has for the company centre around developing its own technology, including what he claims will be the “first end-to-end” mobile application for business travellers, likely to launch in February 2012.
While hesitant to give much detail, Forbes said: “I think KDS is likely to be the first to create and end-to-end app that caters for a majority of the business traveller's requirements.
“I would challenge the industry to show me the app that does everything a business traveller needs it to do.”
Forbes also wants KDS to rethink all its products in terms of interaction with the end user, the business traveller.
“The starting point for us now is what would make the user absolutely committed to using the product every time there was an opportunity to use it,” he said.